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CURRENT ISSUE VOLUME 19 NO. 3 MAY/JUNE 2008
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They're smart, they're fast and they're on the move. Atlantic Canada's video game developers aiming for global domination
By Eleanor Beaton
It's not often that you can trace the roots of an industry to the love of a good woman. But this is arguably the case when it comes to Atlantic Canada's fledgling video game industry. The good woman in question is Caledonia, NS-born Anne-Marie Sheppard, who, tiring of her hectic life in London, England, made the fortuitous decision to return to Nova Scotia in 1999, bringing her video game designing whiz of a partner, Jeremy Wellard, with her.
Within a year, Wellard secured a publishing contract with Redwood City, CA-based Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game company. Using his $460,000 publishing advance and an additional $640,000 in financing sourced primarily from ACOA, Wellard launched HB Studios in Lunenburg in 2000.
Over the next eight years, the company swelled to 114 employees, produced 13 games and moved over 4.5 million units globally. Develop 100, a listing of the world's 100 most successful game studios based on 2006 UK game revenues, ranks HB Studios at number 26.
The above excerpt was taken from the most recent issue of Atlantic Business Magazine. Our complete editorial content is available in print form only. To receive a free subscription to Atlantic Business Magazine,
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